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Identification Numbered Ships Photo Archive

USAT Antigone
ex-USS Antigone (ID 3007)



Call sign:
Nan - Easy - Have

Antigone served both the U. S. Navy and Army

Transport:

  • Built in 1900 as Neckar by J. C. Techlenborg, Geestemude, Germany
  • Launched 8 December 1900
  • Acquired by the Navy 2 July 1917
  • Renamed Antigone 1 September 1917
  • Commissioned USS Antigone (ID 3007), 5 September 1917
  • Decommissioned 24 September 1919 at New York, NY, struck from the Naval Register and transferred to the War Department as the USAT Antigone
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 17,024 t.
  • Length 518' 1"
  • Beam 58' 1"
  • Draft 27'
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 585
  • Armament: Four 5"/51 mounts, two 1-pounders and two machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two double ended and three single ended boilers, two 2,750hp vertical triple expansion steam engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Antigone 94k At the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, on 1 September 1917, the day her name was changed from Neckar and five days before she was placed in commission
    U.S. Navy photo NH 57624    		 Naval Historical Center
    Antigone 128k Imperial War Museum photo © IWM(Q 58244) from American First World War Official Exchange Collection Mike Green
    Antigone 104k In the Norfolk harbor, Virginia, on 29 November 1917. A destroyer silhouette is painted on her side to give the illusion that she is being closely convoyed. A tug is passing by the after part of the destroyer silhouette.
    Donation of Mr. Marshall Butt, Norfolk Naval Shipyard Museum.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 57625    		 Naval Historical Center
    Antigone 91k In the Norfolk harbor, Virginia, on 29 November 1917. A destroyer silhouette is painted on her side to give the illusion that she is being closely convoyed. A tug is passing by the after part of the destroyer silhouette.
    Donation of Mr. Marshall Butt, Norfolk Naval Shipyard Museum.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 57626
    Antigone 81k Underway with troops on board, probably in 1919.
    Photographed by O.W. Waterman, Hampton, Virginia.
    Courtesy of R.W. Cunningham, 1971.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 73322
    Antigone 87k In harbor, circa 1919.
    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1972.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 76008
    Antigone 128k Halftone reproduction of a photograph showing the ship painted in World War I "dazzle" camouflage, circa 1918
    Courtesy of Charles R. Haberlein, Jr., 2008.
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 106313    		 Robert Hurst
    Antigone 177k A color-tinted post cards, featuring a photograph of the ship in "dazzle" camouflage, circa 1918.
    Courtesy of Charles R. Haberlein, Jr., 2008.
    Naval History and Heritage Command photos NH 105779-KN and NH 105780-KN
    Antigone 178k
    Antigone 110k At St. Nazaire, France, circa early 1919 still carrying her guns.
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007.
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 104950
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR Joseph Rollie Defrees, USN - USNA Class of 1900
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1917) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		5 September 1917
    02CAPT Edwin Horace Dodd, USN - USNA Class of 1900
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) - Retired as Captain    		1918
    03CDR Hugo Wilson Osterhaus, USN - USNA Class of 1900
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		1918 - 1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History:

    Antigone

    The daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta in Greek mythology. Antigone is most famous as the heroine of tragedies by Sophoand Euripides. She embodied the virtues of faithfulness and heroism which characterized the Greek ideal of womanhood.

    Neckar was launched on 8 December 1900 at Geestemude, German by J. C. Techlenborg; and was owned and operated by North German Lloyd. In the North Atlantic at the outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914, the passenger and freight liner sought sanctuary at the neutral port, Baltimore, Md - lest she fall prey to the warships of the Royal Navy-and was interned, ostensibly for the duration of the conflict. However, when the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, American customs agents seized the ship. She was transferred to the Navy by the United States Shipping Board on 12 July 1917; converted for naval service as a troop transport at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va.; renamed Antigone (Id. No. 3007) on 1 September 1917; and placed in commission on 5 September 1917, Comdr. Joseph R. Defrees in command.

    Antigone was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force, Atlantic Fleet, on 14 September, and she departed Norfolk on 29 November. After coaling and completing sea trials, she proceeded to Hoboken, N. J., and embarked approximately 2,000 American troops. The transport sailed from New York City en route to France on 14 December and, during the next 11 months, made eight round-trip voyages to France, each of which terminated in either Brest or St. Nazaire. The ship also carried medical supplies and general cargo-as well as 16,526 troops-to Europe before hostilities ended.

    After the armistice was signed on 11 November 1918, the transport continued her transatlantic voyages and returned more than 22,000 veterans to the United States. She completed her last trip from France upon her arrival at New York City on 15 September 1919. She was decommissioned there on 24 September 1919, and her name was simultaneously struck from the Navy list. The ship was then transferred to the War Department for service in the Army Transport Service.

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